HPDBC Chapter 175 A letter from home, brothers rush to the rescue
Chapter 175 A letter from home, brothers rush to the rescue
In the late autumn of 1983, a rare cold snap in Zhangcheng brought a chill to the air, even the smell of coal smoke carried a biting cold. The new workshop of the Chenqing Hardware Manufacturing Joint Venture had just been commissioned, and Lin Chen was leading his technical team to test the operating parameters of a precision grinding machine. His dark blue work clothes were still stained with a little machine oil. Outside the workshop, Old Zhang from the gatehouse called out, holding a manila envelope stamped with a Beijing postmark. The edges of the envelope were worn and frayed, clearly indicating it had traveled a long distance.
Lin Chen wiped the grease from his hands and, upon receiving the envelope, noticed the words "Liu Guangtian" written below the stamp in hurried and messy handwriting. The moment he tore open the envelope, two folded sheets of paper fell out. The first was a handwritten letter from Liu Guangtian, and the second was a hardship certificate issued by the steel mill's union. He walked to the sycamore tree outside the workshop and, by the dim light of day, carefully read the letter. Tear stains along the edges blurred the writing.
"Brother Lin, it's like seeing you in person. Since you went south, Guangfu and I have been working in the steel rolling mill for years, hoping to have a stable job. But fate has other plans. My father was diagnosed with cirrhosis at the beginning of the year and has been bedridden ever since. With the factory shut down, we don't know where to pay for his medicine. Guangfu's foundry started laying off workers last month, and he, being the least senior, was the first to be put on the layoff list. We have three children to feed, and my father's medicine can't be stopped. We're really desperate..."
Seeing this, Lin Chen's thoughts instantly drifted back to his days in the Red Star Courtyard. That year, he had just been reborn into the side room of the middle courtyard, and Liu Haizhong was chasing Liu Guangtian in the backyard with a feather duster, simply because he had spilled half a bowl of thin porridge. It was he who secretly gave Liu Guangtian half a coarse grain biscuit, and later, by guiding him in forging techniques, that helped this boy, who had grown up under the weight of beatings, find his direction in life. Now that the two brothers were in dire straits, he had no reason to hesitate.
The second sheet of paper, bearing the bright red seal of the steel mill's union, was a testament to his hardship. Attached below was Liu Guangtian's pay slip—his monthly salary of 42 yuan had to support a family of five, plus nearly 30 yuan a month in medical expenses. Lin Chen gripped the paper tightly, oblivious to the sycamore leaf falling on his shoulder, and quickly turned to walk towards the office building, where Su Qing was checking the equipment purchase invoices for the new workshop.
"Su Qing, look at this." Lin Chen placed the letter and certificate on the table, his fingertips tracing over the words "cirrhosis" and "waiting for work." "Liu Guangtian was my apprentice at the steel rolling mill. If it weren't for him keeping an eye on Yi Zhonghai's movements back then, I might not have been able to leave Beijing smoothly. Now that such a big thing has happened to his family, we have to help him out."
Su Qing put down her abacus, carefully read the letter, and frowned slightly: "It's a thousand miles from Beijing to Zhangcheng. They're bringing their families, so accommodation and work need to be arranged in advance. The workshop has just been expanded, and we're short of technical backbone and warehouse managers. Liu Guangtian's forging skills are excellent, so he's perfect for managing the workshop's technical aspects; Liu Guangfu is reliable and hardworking, and he can handle the warehousing and logistics." She paused, opened the ledger, and added, "Last month's foreign trade payments just arrived. We'll use a portion to arrange temporary housing for them and give them an advance of three months' salary as a settling-in allowance. That should be enough."
Lin Chen was surprised by Su Qing's thoughtfulness and felt a surge of warmth in his heart. He immediately spread out some letter paper and wrote a reply with a fountain pen, his handwriting neat and strong: "Brothers Guangtian and Guangfu, quickly bring your families south. The factory has arranged positions for you: Guangtian will be the deputy technical director of the workshop, with a monthly salary of 80 yuan; Guangfu will be the warehouse supervisor, with a monthly salary of 65 yuan. Housing has been prepared in a two-bedroom apartment building, and a settlement allowance of 200 yuan per person. I will send a car to pick you up after you arrive at Zhangcheng Station. Lin Chen."
After writing the letter, he specifically asked Old Zhang in the mailroom to send it out urgently, and then personally went to the logistics department to instruct: "Clean up that newly vacated tenement building near the factory gate, change two sets of new bedding, and buy pots, pans, and other daily necessities. Also, go to the grain station to buy 20 jin of rice, 5 jin of flour, and prepare oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar, so that people don't have to worry about these trivial matters when they come."
For the next week, Lin Chen went to the mailroom every day to ask if there had been any replies, and he was somewhat distracted during the technical debugging in the workshop. Su Qing noticed this and specially entrusted the acceptance work of the new workshop to her deputy, accompanying him to Zhangcheng Station to familiarize himself with the pick-up procedure: "There's only one train a day from Beijing, arriving at 5:30 in the morning. We'll contact the factory shuttle in advance, and wait at the exit with a sign that says 'Liu Guangtian,' that way we can't go wrong." She also specially prepared four insulated containers filled with cooked millet porridge and tea eggs, "They've been on the train for two days and two nights, they must be starving."
On the morning of the seventh day, before dawn, Lin Chen and his driver, Xiao Wang, arrived at the station. The early autumn chill was biting; he stood at the exit wrapped in a thick cotton-padded coat, the wooden sign in his hand swaying slightly in the wind. At 5:20, the train whistle pierced the night, and passengers poured out. Lin Chen's gaze swept through the crowd until he spotted two familiar figures—Liu Guangtian carrying a huge canvas bag bulging with luggage, Liu Guangfu supporting the pale-faced Liu Dama, and behind them followed three timid children, the youngest being held in Liu Guangtian's wife's arms.
"Guangtian! Over here!" Lin Chen shouted, holding up a wooden sign. Liu Guangtian looked up and saw him, his eyes instantly reddening. He quickly walked forward, put down his canvas bag, and was about to bow when Lin Chen grabbed his arm. "You must be tired from your journey. Get in the car first." Lin Chen took the luggage from his shoulder and noticed a worn-out toolbox tied to it. "Is this the forging tool set I gave you back then?"
"Yes, Brother Lin, I take him everywhere I go." Liu Guangtian wiped away his tears and pointed to his family behind him, introducing them: "This is my wife, Xiulian, and these three are my children; next to me is my brother, Guangfu. My mother isn't well, so she came with us to recuperate." Aunt Liu held Lin Chen's hand, so excited that she could barely speak: "Little Lin, thanks to you, otherwise our family would have really collapsed..."
After getting in the car, Su Qing handed over the thermos: "Everyone, have some hot porridge to tide you over. We'll make breakfast when we get to our accommodation." The three children's eyes lit up at the sight of the tea eggs. Xiulian quickly said, "Thank you, Sister Su," and quietly tucked the eggshells from the children's hands into her handkerchief. Lin Chen, sitting in the passenger seat, saw in the rearview mirror that Liu Guangtian was repeatedly rubbing the pay slip he had given him, and the corners of his mouth couldn't help but turn up in a smile.
Upon arriving at the tenement building, Liu Guangtian and his family were stunned. The two-bedroom apartment wasn't large, but the walls had just been painted white, the new bedding was neatly folded, and the kitchen was fully stocked with rice, flour, oil, and salt. Liu Guangfu walked to the window, looking at the white smoke billowing from the factory chimneys in the distance, and couldn't help but exclaim, "Brother, this is much better than our house in the courtyard house! It even has a separate kitchen and toilet!"
After settling his family in, Lin Chen took Liu Guangtian and his brother to the factory to familiarize themselves with the environment. As soon as they entered the new workshop, Liu Guangtian was attracted by the precision grinding machine. He quickly walked forward and touched the guide rail of the machine tool, his eyes full of amazement: "Brother Lin, is this a precision grinding machine imported from Germany? Our steel rolling mill only has one, and it is locked in the precision workshop all year round. Only level eight workers can touch it."
"This is a newly imported second-hand machine that we've upgraded." Lin Chen picked up a finished bearing and handed it to her. "Look at the precision; it's two levels higher than the products from state-owned factories. From now on, you'll be in charge of the technical management of this workshop. You have five experienced technicians working under you, all of whom have been with us since the beginning. They're very experienced." He then turned to Liu Guangfu. "The warehousing department is right next to the workshop. All raw materials and finished products must be registered and recorded, and an inventory must be taken every day. There can't be the slightest mistake."
Liu Guangfu nodded vigorously and pulled a small notebook from his pocket: "Don't worry, Brother Lin, when I was a warehouse manager at the steel rolling mill, the ledgers never made a mistake, not even two decimal places were wrong." He opened the notebook, which was filled with dense numbers and various material classification labels, making Lin Chen nod repeatedly.
The next morning, Liu Guangtian appeared in the workshop wearing his newly issued work clothes. He arrived half an hour early and carefully checked the operating records of each piece of equipment. He discovered that the waste heat from the forging process was not being fully utilized, and immediately drew a sketch of a waste heat recovery device. When Lin Chen entered the workshop, Liu Guangtian was squatting next to the forging furnace, marking the pipe routes on the ground with chalk: "Brother Lin, do you think this modification will work? Directing the waste heat from the forging furnace to the preheating process can save at least 15% of fuel."
Lin Chen's eyes lit up instantly when he saw the sketch. This idea coincided with his previous concept, but he hadn't found a suitable implementation plan. "Great!" Lin Chen patted him on the shoulder, "Hurry up and draw up the detailed drawings. I'll have the logistics department purchase the materials, and we'll start the renovation this week." He immediately convened a meeting with the technical team, putting Liu Guangtian in charge of leading the renovation project, and even specially assigned him two young technicians as assistants.
Liu Guangfu's performance in the warehousing department was equally impressive. On his first day in charge of the warehouse, he discovered that the raw materials were piled up in a chaotic manner, with commonly used alloy steel and ordinary steel mixed together, requiring a lot of searching when needed. He immediately implemented a "classification and zoning, first-in, first-out" management system, drew clear lines on the floor with white paint, categorized and placed steel and accessories of different specifications, and created detailed material cards indicating the time of entry, quantity, and usage records.
Three days later, Su Qing went to the warehouse to check the accounts and found that the inventory work, which used to take half a day, was now completed in less than an hour. "Guangfu, your management methods are really good." Su Qing looked at the neat shelves and praised sincerely, "Before, there were often shortages or stockpiles of materials in the warehouse. Now, with your management, this problem will definitely be solved." Liu Guangfu scratched his head and said embarrassedly, "I learned all of this at the steel rolling mill. I just didn't expect it to be so useful here."
A week later, the waste heat recovery device upgrade led by Liu Guangtian was completed. On the first day of trial operation, the fuel consumption figures plummeted, dropping from 150 kilograms of coke per ton of steel to 127.5 kilograms. The workshop director, clutching the accounting sheet, excitedly ran to Lin Chen's office: "Director Lin, Director Liu's upgrade is amazing! At this consumption rate, we can save nearly 3000 yuan in fuel costs every month!"
Lin Chen immediately decided to hold an awards ceremony, awarding Liu Guangtian a 500 yuan technical innovation prize and issuing a factory-wide commendation. At the ceremony, holding the trophy, Liu Guangtian's eyes welled up with tears again: "I've worked at the steel rolling mill for over ten years, and I've never received such recognition before. Brother Lin, Sister Su, and all my fellow workers, thank you for giving me this opportunity. I will definitely work hard in the future and contribute more to the factory!"
That evening, Lin Chen and Su Qing made a special trip to Liu Guangtian's house. Xiulian prepared a large feast, including steamed fish, a local specialty of Zhangcheng, and Beijing-style fried noodles with soybean paste. Aunt Liu held Su Qing's hand, constantly piling food into her bowl: "Sister Su, you and Xiao Lin are truly our family's benefactors. Guangtian comes home every day and tells us about the factory, saying that you treat him even better than your own brother."
At the dinner table, Liu Guangtian talked about the current situation at the steel mill: "Yi Zhonghai was released from prison last year. After returning to the courtyard, no one wanted him, and he could only make a living by collecting scraps. Qin Huairu's sewing shop is doing well, and Jia Dang has now become a key technical staff member in the factory. Last time I went to buy fabric, she even asked about you." Lin Chen listened to the news from his hometown, feeling a mix of emotions. The grudges and disputes in the courtyard over the years had all become a thing of the past.
Before leaving, Liu Guangtian took out a cloth bag and handed it to Lin Chen: "Brother Lin, this is what my father asked me to bring to you. He said you suffered a lot of grievances in the courtyard back then. Although this thing is not worth much, it is a small token of our family's goodwill." Lin Chen opened the cloth bag, and inside was a polished claw hammer with the words "Be a down-to-earth person" engraved on the handle. It was the same hammer that he had given to Liu Haizhong back then.
Back home, Lin Chen placed the claw hammer in the most prominent position on his desk. Su Qing leaned against him, looking at the factory lights outside the window: "I never expected Brother Liu Guangtian to bring us such a big surprise. With their help, our expansion plan will definitely be completed ahead of schedule." Lin Chen grasped her hand, his gaze firm: "This is what it means to be treated with kindness. We helped them back then, and now they've become our most capable assistants. In the future, we'll recruit more talents like them to make Chenqing Hardware bigger and stronger."
In the days that followed, the Liu brothers fully integrated into the Chenqing Hardware family. Liu Guangtian not only optimized the forging process but also trained three young apprentices, passing on his skills to them without reservation. Liu Guangfu, on the other hand, established a comprehensive warehouse management system, introducing the concept of "material requirements planning," which increased the turnover rate of raw materials by 30%. Although the brothers' monthly salaries were nearly double what they had earned in Beijing, they became even more frugal. Every month, after deducting living expenses and the medical expenses sent to Liu Haizhong, they saved the rest of their money, preparing to settle down in Zhangcheng.
One late autumn weekend, Lin Chen took the Liu brothers, Guangtian and Guangfu, to visit the research and development center under construction. The construction site was bustling with activity as workers busily worked. Pointing to the plans on the blueprints, Lin Chen said, "This place will have laboratories, a drafting room, and a sample display area. We want to develop our own core technologies and no longer rely on imported equipment. Guangtian, the forging technology research and development here will be your responsibility; Guangfu, you'll also need to put in a lot of effort in managing the materials for the research center."
Looking at the R&D center on the blueprints, Liu Guangtian's eyes were filled with anticipation: "Brother Lin, I will definitely not let you down. Once the R&D center is built, I will develop the most advanced forging technology in China, allowing Chenqing Hardware's products to go global!" Liu Guangfu nodded vigorously as well: "I will make material management even more meticulous, providing the strongest guarantee for the R&D work!"